Consumers, largely in response to Brexit uncertainty, kept their wallets and purses firmly closed in a month when the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales were supposed to lift all boats.

It meant that November’s mega-shopping days highlighted what is now a double whammy for the sector. The much-documented switch from the high street to online purchases is compounded by the more recent reluctance of consumers to spend when Brexit could push the economy into recession next year.

In response to both trends, retailers have demanded that landlords drop their rents. In essence, shops are arguing that they no longer get the number of shoppers through the doors that they once did, and the resultant paucity of sales should be reflected in lower rents.

So far, retailers have found landlords unresponsive. The property owners prefer to look for another tenant than take the axe to their rents. Even pound shops and charity outlets pay more than the likes of Ashley, at least in the short term.

Landlords have two powerful allies – in the shape of local and central government. Business rates are calculated based on rental values, so it pays ministers and councillors to support higher rents.

Yet Ashley holds most of the cards. Not only is the internet stealing more business from bricks and mortar shops with every passing month, but the consumer slowdown is also disproportionately affecting the physical high street. Dixons Carphone slumped to a loss of £440m in the first half of its financial year. Others have suffered similar losses. And Ashley is one of the few players in the game who isn’t loaded down with debt.

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Most of the big landlords are up to their eyes in borrowed money. Earlier this year, Intu, the owner of shopping centres including Lakeside and the Trafford Centre, was the subject of a £3.4bn takeover bid that was abandoned a few weeks later. It was then offered £2.5bn by a new set of bidders, only for that to fall through too.

Analysts have warned that Intu’s loan-to-value (LTV) ratio – currently at 50% – could rise to the 60% limit of its bank borrowing agreements. This would require the company to sell around 40% of its assets to raise £2bn and reduce the LTV to 35%.

Intu is trying to persuade Ashley and other retailers to continue paying something near current rent levels to protect its value. But it is clear that the landlord’s defences are becoming weaker by the day. And that’s because the Brexit-fearing shopper is shoving Mr and Mrs Spendthrift aside.

Some retail analysts expect a rash of business collapses in the new year after meagre Christmas takings are banked. Others believe there will be a slow-motion crash of firms through 2019 as retailers – many over-borrowed themselves – attempt to keep the wheels of their businesses turning.

Whichever path retailers follow, the outcome is certain. Landlords across the country must lower rents, and councils must accept lower business rates. Not to feed Ashley’s profits – though rent cuts will do that – but to allow for a broader rebirth of activity on the high street.

Cinemas have something streaming can’t match

Hits such as Avengers: Infinity War helped cinemas have a record year. Photograph: null/PR Company Handout

Hollywood is preparing to toast a record $12bn annual haul at the box office. The UK is poised to celebrate the biggest year of cinema-going since 1971, when the likes of Diamonds Are Forever and Dirty Harry graced the big screen. It would appear that reports of the slow death of cinema at the hands of the streaming revolution have been somewhat exaggerated.

Reed Hastings, Netflix’s chief executive, famously said that the company’s biggest competitor was sleep. In other words, Netflix has its sights on viewers’ every waking hour, as is this case for the whole leisure industry – from pubs and restaurants to live sporting events, shopping and going to the cinema.

A year ago it looked as though the Netflix effect might finally be real – US cinemas saw their lowest attendance levels since 1992 – but this year’s figures are much healthier. The cinema-going renaissance in the UK is being credited to factors including superhero films such as Avengers: Infinity War and more eclectic fare including Peter Rabbit and Bohemian Rhapsody.

The Netflix threat has spurred huge investment in cinemas, from high-quality screens to plush seating. And a rethink on the traditional multiplex has seen boutique chains such as Everyman flourish.

Even Netflix is falling under the spell of film. The streaming giant is bending its rule of making content available to subscribers first and opting for big screen releases for among others, Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar hopeful Roma. Of course Netflix has its own agenda: the limited cinema releases are a tactic to meet minimum awards entry criteria. But it now begrudgingly admits that there is still nothing like the prestige (and subscriber bump) that comes with a Hollywood award – as old-school as that might sound to a new-age streamer.

Gloria Hunniford, face of a new government campaign to get people to switch broadband suppliers. Photograph: GOR/GC Images

Can Gloria Hunniford get you a better broadband deal?

At 78 years old, Gloria Hunniford is perhaps not the obvious face for a new government campaign to get us all to switch to faster and cheaper broadband. But it’s a cute choice: regulators have woken up to how loyal customers of broadband suppliers – usually in older age brackets – are exploited the most.

In modern business, customer loyalty is never rewarded, but is instead nearly always punished. Repeat customers of insurers, of utility providers, of breakdown recovery services, of mobile phone companies, will always pay more on renewal than a new customer.

Broadband customers are especially vulnerable. Many are on bundled contracts with TV services, which come with various bits of kit and set-top boxes. Switching providers can involve the faff of installing new gear. Even if it doesn’t, the fear of losing the internet for even the briefest period is sufficient to deter many from switching.

The regulator, Ofcom, says: “We estimate that customers who take a landline and broadband service together are paying an average of 19% more once their discounted deal has expired.” It is introducing a package of measures (including Hunniford) designed to encourage us to switch.

It’s easy to be cynical about this. After all, we’ve seen similar rules giving customers ever more information, without corresponding reductions in consumer detriment. Interventionists will argue that broadband prices should be capped by government, while technologists will point to Helsinki, where 24/7 city-wide wifi is completely free, and even faster than home broadband.

But before we condemn Ofcom for not taking more robust action, take a look at what’s happened in the energy sector. After years of exhortation and chiding, switching is now working. British Gas owner Centrica has come under intense pressure amid fast-falling customer numbers, as has SSE. BT and the other broadband incumbents need to look and learn – and maybe, for a change, reward loyalty.